Monday, September 22, 2014

What studio would be complete without a bed for a furry friend. Shame my furry friend would not oblige today! he is a good boy and sleeps in it however, his predecessor was more inclined to want to be right where I was working!
So enjoyed my 2 days with Seth last month. Another thing ticked off my bucket list!

Monday, June 09, 2014

My heart is still heavy. It's 3 weeks since i learnt my babies were to die. Once they got back to the Shelter, 3 of them showed symptoms of ringworm again, so the shelter made the decision to kill them all. I cant begin to tell you the pain it has caused me, the fact that i wasnt given the option to adopt any of them, the fact that they took a further 3 days to let me know that they had all died. i am disgusted by the excuse given, the fact that they tried to sugar coat it using the term "euthanaese". To them they were just numbers, but to me they all had names and personalities - The Fab 4 who I had for 3 months - Lucy the head strong adventurer, Molly the needy one who cried for attention, Elsa the one with the pointy little face who was cuddly too , Felix the most beautiful of them all who had a gorgeous personality and loved to play with the babies and suckle on the sheepskin rug, then there were the babies Dot named as she was such a tiny Dot when she came to me, such a sweet little girl who growled when she had food she loved or a toy she loved and would carry the toy around in her mouth (which Felix would do as well), and her sister Rosie, who had a funny little face with ET ears who loved her bed and was always up for a scrap!

but if the shelter think it is over then they have another think coming. I am hoping to show them that there are better ways to handle ringworm. I feel i owe my babies that much and I don't want them to have died in vain.....

Thursday, April 03, 2014

Well have had these girls a couple of weeks now. They were so TINY when I got them. The baby has gone from 550grams to 690grams. Can you believe that a family had them for 2 weeks and then decided that they didn't want them anymore!

. They are very cute. The Fab 4 are back as one got sick and if I hadn't taken them back . well you can guess what would have happened!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

There is so much pleasure to be had in turning hissy frightened kittens into purry confident kittens. Also watching them flourish with a little love and care. You dont have to give a lot to reap this reward. There is also the fact that by fostering these sweet little things means that you are saving their lives and giving them a great start to finding their new home. My first foster was Miss Bella. I scoured the internet for hep after she was defecating inappropriately! Poor little girl, looking back now, I feel it shows the trauma she was feeling She was a stray, separated from her mother and siblings and sadly almost didn't make the cut at the shelter. Such a beautiful girl and now has a home of her own. Next were the Fab 4. who came to the shelter with their Mum and 2 other siblings. When I met the fab 4 they were all huddled together. So this is what I have learnt so far!
Limit them to one room. Give the foster a good 24 hours before starting any socialisation (other than stroking it, if you are able to without force). Make sure they have the basic necessities, warmth, plenty of food and water, clean litter trays (1 per 2 kittens), warm comfy bedding - preferably something partially covered in (I used a box on its side at first) as this seems to make them feel more secure. Just sit in with them and talk gently, so they get used to you and eventually realise you are no threat. It took Bella less than a day. And the fab 4 about 3 or 4 days to show trust. Some will have a "light bulb moment, where 1 minute they will be hissy and then suddenly they realise that stroking and chin rubs really are the bomb!
With the fab 4 I noticed after a couple of days that they didn't feel the need to all sleep together. This was the first sign they they were feeling safe. You will also notice after a few days that they dont run and hide when you enter the room.
The shelter prefers me to only give them the food they provide plus water. In the beginning I like to add cooked chicken to their diet which I feed by hand, and a little yoghurt, again fed by hand and kitten milk watered down. I find these get them used to me quicker and gets them eating. Bella was always a good eater and slept a lot, so her weight went on quickly. The fab 4 werent such great eaters at the start. But once you get their tummies used to food, they soon find their appetite. The baby of the litter took about a week to start playing. She used to sit on the sidelines and watch the other 3 rough and tumble. Now she is one of the ones climbing my legs and I have to be careful as she will just launch herself at me from the vanity and land on my back! Such a change in her.
It's a good idea to have scales so you can weight the babies and make sure they are putting on weight. I have had the fab 4 for 2 .5 weeks now and the baby has gone from 600+grams to 870grams and one of the bigger kittens from 840 grams to over 1100. Once they get to about a kilo they should start getting a layer of fat so that you don't just feel fur and bones!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

It was hard to give Miss Bella back. She swnt from being a skinny hissy trembling stray to a sleek confident cuddly girl. She quickly learnt my bed was a comfy place to hang out. The first week she seemed to mostly eat and sleep. Her tummy was a bit upset and took a few days to settle down. She wasn't very playful but that all changed about the 7 day mark. During the first week she was recovering from her op and also putting on some much needed weight. You could feel every bone in her body and she was light as a feather when you picked her up. She was an eating machine though so with all the food and sleep she quickly put on some weight. She is a very sweet cuddly girl and I hope she finds a fabulous new home.

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Arty_oz

About Me

I work to feed my Paper Craft addiction and now it will probably be to fill my petrol tank. I have wanted a Monaro, since Holden first released them, but something was always holding me back from taking that last step. That was until the death of Steve Irwin and Peter Brock. That made me realise that life is too short. We are on this earth only once (I think) so if you really want something... go for it....